Bicycle Mechanics - Torque wrenches

Hey guys.

I have searched and gotten a little bit of an idea, but I was wondering what type of recommendations you guys can make for the best torque wrench for the price/quality in the 5-100 Nm range?

I'm in the market and wanted to pick some brains.

Thanks.

I use a craftsman at work. It is pretty nice, but I don't have much experience with other brands. I have used the bar deflection style, the park one, but the click style is nice. Make sure you detention it to save the spring.

-jk

Quality varies pretty directly with price (except for Nashbar/Performance brand torque wrenches which are re-branded overpriced cheapies).

If $100 doesn't seem like too much, then a name-brand tool (Craftsman, Mac, Snap-On) is the way to go. Park Tools is nice too.

If you're thinking $20 or so, Harbor Freight, but test the accuracy when you get it and be prepared to exchange it. If you get a working one it won't wander much.

If you can, go with the Craftsman. It's a good middle-of-the-road value, priced under S&K and Snap-On, but still very reliable and accurate. The click-type are often on sale for $70ish at Sears. Skip the cheepies if you can help it. If you need to go the harbor freight route, just know your results may be inconsitent and be prepared for some possible guesswork.

If you want to save some money, the beam-style torque wrenches are much less expensive than the click-style. A good one will be quite accurate. Most people (me included) prefer the click style because they're easier to use in that you don't have to watch a needle...so there's less of a chance to misinterpret the results.

I lived w/o a torque wrench for years. Once I got one I regretted not getting it sooner. Have fun!

The problem is finding a click style one that works in the low range without selling your first kid to pay for it. Many folks say that after you get the feel of how tight to go you do not need a torque wrench. My thoughts on this are that carbon parts are far to expensive to not have one.

Well I picked up a beam-type Craftsman at Sears yesterday, and it seems to work pretty awesome. it is from 0-100 Nm and is very readable. I am going to try and avoid doing the <10Nm work with this and stick to the bottom-bracket-like work with it. Seems pretty awesome so far.

Expanding this thread, any recs for torque wrenches from 0 to about 20 Nm? Any reviews of the Park TW-1? So far I have gathered it is something to avoid.

Thanks guys.

At parts stores,I've had 35 to $50 torque wrenches.They're about as accurate as Craftman or brands like:SK,Blackhawk etc. Some shops couldn't justify having thae better ones for theft reasons.If price is a concern,parts stores have the click-till-torqued or beam type.They're durable.

Check out Park tools. I have 2 for each range typical for bikes. They are worth it especially with carbon and aluminum using SS bolts.

Get a beam type wrench, available at any discount auto parts store for less than $20. They never go out of calibration llike click wrenches do.